In Oslo, the vindication of the female painters who shattered the male monopoly on art

The definitive refutation of the myth of ‘minor’ female painting here in Oslo is abundantly clear from the monumental works on display. Foremost among these is the prestigious loan from the Galleria Borghese: Minerva Dressing (1613), painted by Lavinia Fontana (1552–1614) just one year before her death. A large-scale work (258x190 cm) commissioned by Cardinal Scipione Borghese, it is one of the earliest female nudes painted by a woman.

Lavinia Fontana, Minerva Dressing, 1613, Galleria Borghese, Roma. © Galleria Borghese. (Foto Mauro Coen).

The painting, which in 1700 was attributed to Titian, then to Padovanino and Girolamo Forabosco, was only attributed to Fontana in the middle of the last century.

The Roman goddess, completely naked, casts a flirtatious glance at the viewer, whilst holding a richly embroidered robe – a fitting reference to her role as the patroness of weavers; and, unusually, the goddess of war, wisdom and justice – having laid her insignia and weapons at her feet – is captured in a moment of sensual intimacy whilst the little Cupid plays with her helmet, thus alluding to the triumphant power of love.

This work serves as a testament to Lavinia’s skill in painting a female nude, and would later also serve as a model for Artemisia Gentileschi. It remains unclear whether the face of the goddess – which likely bears the painter’s own features – depicts Lavinia herself as a young woman or, more likely, her daughter who died at the age of sixteen.

Furthermore, one of Fontana’s most notable works is the exceptional Portrait of a Young Man from 1606, another loan from the Galleria Borghese.

Another new attribution is that of Still life with silver vase. The Still life by an anonymous artist, which came from the Norwegian museum’s storerooms, now takes centre stage in the exhibition as a work by Clara Peeters.

One of the arguments that this exhibition supports with concrete evidence is that women in the 17th century did not paint merely for pleasure or for a limited number of devotional commissions; rather, with an entrepreneurial spirit, they ran workshops and managed commissions.

Judith Leyster, Boy Playing the Flute, 1630. Nationalmuseum, Stockholm. (Foto Nationalmuseum)

First and foremost, Judith Leyster, born in Haarlem in 1609 and who died in 1660, (featured in the exhibition with, amongst others, Serenade from 1629 and the truly remarkable Boy Playing the Flute from 1635, on loan from Stockholm), whose managerial role in running her husband’s workshop is analysed, Jan Miense Molenaer: the catalogue readily points to this as an example of a widespread management model in both Flanders and the Netherlands, a clear indication of the levels of financial responsibility and legal autonomy enjoyed by women in these regions, which were unthinkable at the time in the rest of the continent, as Lodovico Guicciardini had already observed and noted with a sense of wonder in his chronicle as early as 1567 in his Descrittione di tutti i Paesi Bassi, altrimenti detti Germania Inferiore.

Whilst for Lavinia Fontana and Artemisia Gentileschi, their apprenticeship in their fathers’ workshops served as their gateway to the world of art (the exhibition also features works by Prospero Fontana and Orazio Gentileschi, providing a necessary philological counterpoint), for others, the path lay in a convent education – as in the case of the Florentine Plautilla Nelli – or self-taught study.

In the case of Sofonisba Anguissola (1532–1629), a noblewoman from Cremona, whose privileged cultural upbringing within her family, her apprenticeship first with Bernandino Campi and then with Bernandino Gatti, as well as her talent as an outstanding portraitist (on display here is the famous Self-Portrait at the Spinet, 1556–57), on loan from the Capodimonte Museum and Royal Park in Naples), all of which, together with the praise of the much-feared Michelangelo, earned her highly prestigious commissions.

Furthermore, among the highlights of this exhibition The Education of the Virgin Mary (1656) by the Brussels-born artist Michaelina Wautier (1614–1689), a masterful example of history painting – in which the Virgin, dressed in white with a red sash, perhaps alluding to her future sufferings, holds a book in her hand and is flanked by her elderly parents, Anne and Joachim: Caravaggio’s influence is evident here in Theodoor van Loon’s interpretation, particularly through The Birth of the Virgin, now housed in the Church of Our Lady of Scherpeneuhvel. Finally, in this exhibition – which is truly exemplary in terms of its commitment, management of loans, comparative analysis and philological approach – special mention must be made of the bizarre Butterflies and Beetles in a Landscape by Margaretha de Heer (1603–1665). A pine chafer beetle, a nettle butterfly, a poplar hawk-moth and a Atalanta butterfly are perched on a dry branch, against a backdrop of an ancient house where a peasant girl is busy with her chores: Indeed, whilst the artist’s mastery is evident in the pictorial rendering of the details—which make the species easily recognisable—no less poetic is the liveliness of this composition, which stands in contrast to the still lifes of Giovanna Garzoni, (1600–1670), notably the Plate with Cherries and Carnations on display (from the Uffizi), who also adopted an equally precise scientific approach in her still-life depictions.

“W̶o̶m̶a̶n̶ Painter”, curated by Cynthia Osiecki and Ellen Lerberg, Oslo, Nasjonalmuseet, until 7 February 2027

The exhibition ‘(Woman) Painter’ will be on display at the Galleria Borghese in Rome from 15 March to 30 May 2027